Fourth Period
by Thundercatroar
Summary: Set during the Captain Planet and the Planeteers episode "'Teers in the Hood". Amidst worry and fear, Gi finds that sometimes a laugh when needed the most can be found in and at the most unlikely time. Linka/Wheeler hijinks as well, just couldn't resist.


Captain Planet and the Planeteers was created by Ted Turner and is owned by Warner Brothers Inc. No infringement on their property is implied, nor should be inferred.

Since I'm using direct quotes from the Captain Planet and the Planeteers episode- "'Teers in the Hood" was an idea by Mrs. Metzler's class of 1992-93 West Fulton Middle School in Atlanta, Georgia. The story was by Nick Boxer, and written by Sean Catherine Derek, as well as Laren Bright. No infringement on their screenplay is implied, nor should be inferred.

The Emily Litella "Tiny Kingdom" segment comes from Gilda Radner's 1979 Broadway comedy performance entitled "Gilda Live". It was written by Rosie Shuster, performed by Gilda Radner, and as far as I could find, the National Broadcasting Company/Broadway Video owns it. I certainly don't, and I hope that covers my nearly verbatim use of it.

The characters _Cheburashka_ and _Gena_ were created by Eduard Uspensky. Later the characters were stop animated by Roman Kachanov via Soyuzmultifilm Studio in a series of popular Soviet era films. No infringement on their property is implied, nor should be inferred.

The instrumental "Tight" was mixed by the artist/disc jockey known as Mix Chopin. No infringement on his property is implied, nor should be inferred.

Rated **T **for language: Amongst her lowly subjects, my favorite, Her Royal Highness, the Queen Mother, _is_ also in house, so be warned.

* * *

><p>Fourth Period<p>

Gi was thoroughly convinced that the slow clock on the wall above the chalkboard behind her teacher was conspiring to keep her in American history for longer than she deemed necessary.

She felt she had a much better excuse, but much like her fellow classmates, Gi hadn't paid much attention to any of what the instructor had to say about Franklin Delano Roosevelt's depression era New Deal programs. Taking a quick glance to her left, the water Planeteer found that the fire one also shared in the collective sentiment of boredom that their fellow classmates demonstrated.

True, she and Wheeler weren't there for school, but he could at least _act_ like he was listening in order to not call attention to himself and potentially blow their cover. Truth be known, Gi _wished_ she could immerse her thoughts in the lesson and forget about things for a little while, but was unable to.

Unconsciously, Gi had been masking the majority of her discouraging despair with anger, but with a deep breath, and a resistance to cry that was becoming weaker by each tedious, fruitless day that they were in their currently depressing environment; her thoughts were dominated by the welfare of her friend, David.

All of those dark musings revolved around whether or not he was going to be, and Gi chose her term _carefully_, okay.

Soon enough, Gi's thoughts drifted to the better laid plans of the week before. They'd all be in Monaco on vacation right now for some well earned rest and relaxation if this hadn't happened, but instead, to Gi's shock, _this_ was the alternative that fate had in store, and it had completely turned her mostly carefree world on its ear.

Prior to this incident, she thought that having to abandon her dolphin Tisa was the worst thing that would ever happen to her, now however, Gi was faced with the possibility of losing yet another friend that she loved dearly, but was completely helpless to do a thing to prevent it.

The possibility of mortality being a realistic outcome, Gi promised David in her heart that she was going to see to it that whoever was responsible for this cowardly act paid a heavy toll for it.

Stoically citing that it was solely _her_ problem, and _not_ theirs, Gi told the other Planeteers to go on their trip without her, and to have fun. She thought that a lot of other people might have taken her up on her offer of freedom from her troubles in a heartbeat, but instead of such, Kwame, Linka, Ma-Ti, and Wheeler chose to come with her, and try to help find the people responsible for David's current condition. It really wasn't to her surprise at all, but still, like the true friends they all were, her fellow Planeteers all flatly refused to allow her leave Hope Island without them. Their collective gesture of selflessness gave her hope when the situation seemed its darkest, and when Gi felt she was all alone.

As time wore on, it was evident to the confused young lady just how important the others' presence was, because she found that they lent her the strength to endure the whole ordeal when she felt she possessed it the least.

Gi knew _now_ that if she had gotten her way in the beginning and went incognito alone, especially after having gotten the scant results they had _collectively _so far, she'd most likely have lost patience _well_ before then, and blown her cover, probably by doing something irreparably impulsive. Since the others _were_ there supporting her though, it seemed like she was at least getting _something_ done, though it was little, and if nothing else, their company kept her from going _completely_ insane.

Even _with_ their help, as it stood at that moment, they had all been at the school for nearly a week, and despite their best efforts at infiltrating the school's delinquent cliques, none of them had found a lead in breaking the case, or found anyone who would so much as speak one word about the shooting.

She was frustrated by the lack of progress and angry at whom had done this, but Gi was torn away from her niggling doubts about the ultimate success of this mission by the teacher calling out Wheeler's name to pay attention.

In a monotone voice that hid a toned down humor at her teammate's expense, the teacher announced, "Earth to Mister Wheeler. Mr. Wheeler?"

From the happy, utterly ridiculous look on Wheeler's face, his daydream was most likely comprised of Linka wearing a skimpy, dripping wet white bikini while busy giving the Geocruiser a slow, hot wax to the song _Tight_.

Gi would have been grateful for the interruption from her dark thoughts had it not been so embarrassing, and when the oblivious redhead didn't even respond after the teacher called his name _twice_, it fell to Gi to nudge him forcefully with the flat of her hand the third time his name was called to make him pop out of whatever fantasy he had immersed himself in.

"Earth to Mister Wheeler."

Jerked away from his happy daydream, and only lucid enough to cobble together a flimsy retort, Wheeler blurted out, "My dog ate it!" Then he added a respectful and surprisingly embarrassed sounding, "Sorry."

Back to reality enough to complain about being stuck back in school _again_, Gi put her hand on her face, then tried in vain to shame him into to paying attention by saying he might learn something _this_ go around. Thankfully, the dismissal bell rang, and at long last Gi and _the scholar _could get out of there.

After avoiding being nearly trampled by the stampede of students out of the class, Wheeler walked out of class with her, and as per prior agreement, they were to meet the others in the science hall. Gi was anxious to speak with them, and see if their efforts had been any more fruitful than theirs had been that day, but she had her doubts because their loaded questions about the incident had been met with indifference, hostility, or evasive fear.

As she and Wheeler walked up the hall conversing about leads, or the disappointing lack thereof, Gi was both relieved and grateful that he at least was talking about, and taking the situation more seriously than she gave him credit for earlier. As they neared their friends though, Wheeler's pace picked up considerably, and Gi knew _that _was short lived when he set eyes on the main object of his affections.

Gi expected it to be bullshit as usual when it came to Wheeler's interactions with Linka, but the wildcard Russian showed them all a surprising new trick, and unexpectedly shot the first volley in their game of flirtation. "So, Wheeler, is your best subject still _lunch_?" Linka joked as she playfully chucked him on the shoulder.

At any other time, Gi would have found the banter that hid Wheeler and Linka's deeper feelings for one another entertaining and cute, but _now_, she was in absolutely _no_ mood for it. Gi exhaled a long breath through her nose as Wheeler happily accepted Linka's invitation to one of his corny come on lines, he offered, "Nah, Romance 101." Kwame's eyebrow rose, and _obviously_ Linka had gotten quite a bit more back from her efforts than she expected when her face flushed while Wheeler smirked and gave a saucy look up and down at her innocent, yet misinformed attempt at ghetto with her choice of raiment, "Wanna' cram together sometime?"

Thinking that he'd be too shocked that she had actually been an instigator in his game, Linka didn't know how to react to her teammate's suggestive rebuttal, but Gi certainly did, and as she stepped forward to censure them, her equal irritation with them clearly showed. "How can you two joke around when David is _fighting_ for his _life_?"

Linka and Wheeler examined one another for a fleeting moment, independently remembering the terrible reason why they were there, and looked at one another, truly feeling guilty.

Always the best at seeing both sides clearly, and realizing that Linka and Wheeler meant no harm, also that the need for harmony was now more important than ever, Kwame offered kindly with concern for _all _of his friends' feelings, "Gi, you _must _ease up," He assured with confidence, "He will pull through."

Kwame would have continued to tactfully assuage what he knew were his friend's deepest fears, but a fight broke out in an adjacent classroom. As the altercation became more violent by the moment, instinctually, Linka was going to use her power to break it up, but Gi lunged forward and grabbed the impulsive blonde's arm, citing their need to remain undercover.

As per their usual luck, somehow during the fight, a good sized fire that spewed dangerous smoke along with it accompanied the row between the two rival gang members inside the science classroom, and it fell to the Planeteers to try to deal with it anyway.

After running out of the main entrance of the school with the vast majority of the student body, their retreat to a well foliated area was made easier by the general panic. From the anonymity afforded by the general discord of the events unfolding in the school building, the shuffle of panicked humanity, and thick shrubbery; the Planeteers quickly summoned Captain Planet.

After successfully extinguishing the fire, only managing to flood an entire wing of a school, and completely destroy a mere fire hydrant in the process, the elemental hero separated back into his base elements as individual beams of light descended from the sky to return to their rings of origin.

If it were any other time she would have joked with Wheeler about the collateral damage Cap amassed every time he was summoned, and try to determine a monetary amount, but instead, with frustration, Gi turned to everyone and announced wanting to get back on task, "Okay, the excitement's over, we've got work to do."

Wheeler placed a comforting hand on Gi's shoulder and assured, "Take it _easy_, Gi, we'll find out who shot your friend."

Kwame nodded, "It is just a matter of time, Linka and I have already met some of the gang members."

Gi tried to listen to the optimistic appraisal of the situation that her friends gave her, and find hope in the promise of a couple of leads that they didn't have a few days ago, but it was easy for them to gloss everything over and try to put a positive spin on it. Gi knew that anyone would be hard pressed to believe it by the way she was acting, but she did appreciate them trying to be upbeat for her.

In her heart Gi _wanted_ to believe everything in the end would turn out alright, complete with a happy ending, but this wasn't a Saturday morning cartoon, or a fanciful fairy tale, it was real life.

The logic of the situation still remained that no matter what happened, even if they did find the culprit for David's sufferings, he was _still _hurt, and his prognosis for recovery was no better than a week prior.

_None_ of what they were doing would ultimately matter if he...

Gi was snapped back to the current conversation with Wheeler's serious warning of, "But with two rival gangs on campus, we _all_ have to be careful."

The bell for fourth period rang, and as much as Gi would have liked to skip the class to be alone, she slowly walked towards it as Wheeler winked at the both of them and said with his most beguiling grin, "Hey, Girls, there's just one more period before lunch, and then you'll both get to see me shine my brightest!"

Trying as hard as she could to not smile at him, Linka shook her head and muttered, "_Durak_" with what could be easily mistaken for affection, while giving the Yankee a playful, gentle push forward. Despite her mood, Gi managed to smile at the show a little, all the while feeling guilty about her attitude, and they walked together back to the main entrance side by side, and their next shared lesson.

* * *

><p>After climbing two flights of steps, negotiating a flooded hallway, and heel toeing past a heavily cursing janitor wielding a sopping wet, filthy grey mop with more than a little guilt, the trio reached the doorway of their class. As Gi eavesdropped, she heard Wheeler and Linka whispering about something to the tone of an apology to her about their earlier behavior, but when they turned to face her with it, it was <em>she<em> who was hanging back with her shoulders hung down low.

Before they could say anything, Gi looked around to see if they were being observed before stating, "You, _all_ of you don't even have to be here with me."

With real regret for her demanding, snappish behavior, and not caring about the adjective she used to describe herself because she felt she was well representing it, Gi looked down at the floor, then at her two teammates fighting the urge to cry, "I'm sorry I've been acting like such a bitch to all of you, and I'm so sorry."

Confused, Linka queried incredulously, "Acting like a female dog?"

Gi placed her hand in her face because she knew that Wheeler couldn't resist the temptation to correct the blonde as he chuckled, "Zasranka, Babe."

Linka's head bobbed upwards in recognition, "Oh." Then the blonde chastised genuinely, "Gi! Do not speak of yourself in such a manner!" She placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and explained, "We all understand that you have been through much as of late, and it is only understandable that you would be upset and not yourself. You have _nothing_ to apologize _for_." The regretful blonde then acknowledged, "As far as earlier goes, you had every right to be irritated with both me _and _Wheeler because it was insensitive for us to carry on so capriciously when you are hurting so. This is a serious mission, and we should have considered your feelings, and I am sorry."

Wheeler nodded and placed his hand on Gi's shoulder, "I'm sorry too, Gi." With hope he questioned, "Are we cool, Sport?" Gi said nothing, but extended her arms wide while Wheeler and Linka both walked into them for a hug.

When they broke the show of affection, Linka's attention then turned to Wheeler and she scolded him while shaking her finger, "You shouldn't be saying bad words!" Her curiosity getting the better of her, she wondered, "Where did you learn _that_ one by the way? " Defending herself, Linka haughtily ended, "It certainly was _not_ from me!"

Wheeler smiled, quite proud of his resourcefulness, "I bought a book."

Linka retorted dryly, "You're just _full_ of surprises aren't you, Yankee."

The three stepped into the classroom just as the tardy bell rang, and Gi rolled her eyes. "That ain't _all_ the cowboy's full of. Let's go sit down before we're counted as late."

As Linka and Gi shared a conspiratorial glance, Wheeler cut them a dirty look for ganging up on him like it was business as usual, and they took the last three free seats available in the crowded classroom.

Thankfully there was no teacher in sight, so Wheeler was glad that at least they wouldn't be pinched for tardiness, but he usually tried to sit in the back of all of his classes so he could sleep, and avoid being called on. Because of their impromptu makeup session, all those seats were full, and from past experience, Wheeler knew that the desks up front were empty for a good reason. This was a math class, the smarter kids usually sat up front to avoid the hooligans in the back, therefore the three of them were in the direct line of fire for question answering.

The redhead was sure that the girls would be fine because they were really smart when it came to stuff like this, but he for one was sweating bullets because he knew about as much about higher level mathematics, as Hoggish Greedly did about dieting.

Resigned to his fate, Wheeler sat at the desk in between the girls with a sigh, and opened a notebook full of aimless doodles so that it would look like he was taking notes, and lessen his chances of being called on.

Linka in turn took a glance at it, then a full look at some of his drawings. In between the unfinished tic tac toe games, and geometric shapes, Wheeler had drawn a cartoon Suchi wearing a Bermuda shirt, and sunglasses reclining against the trunk of a tree with a leg crossed while eating a banana. As she leaned over with bright eyes, and with an impressed, excited sounding tone, Linka pointed at the notebook with a smile. "Bozhe moy, Yankee, I didn't know you could draw!"

Embarrassed, and accustomed to secreting his hidden talent from others, Wheeler made a move to close the book, concealing what he felt Linka would think were his childish scribbles, but he was surprised when Linka placed her hand on the closing notebook and scooted it towards her to compliment, "That is _adorable_, Wheeler, it looks just like him!" Linka noted while gazing into his pretty blue eyes, "Why have you been hiding this from all of us? How long have you been an artist?"

Wheeler's face flushed and he bashfully accepted her rare praise. "Well, I've been drawing ever since I can remember, I'm really not as good as I would like to be, but I enjoy it." With a slightly more serious note in his voice that Linka didn't like, Wheeler finished, "I wanted to take classes to learn how to draw _better_, but my old man told me it was a stupid waste of my time and to give it up."

Linka studied the complex crosshatching, and shading Wheeler had done on his drawing, and if that was what he could do simply as a playful diversion from boredom, it was hard telling what he could do with time and a more concentrated effort.

As the din of the classroom rose to a dull roar with the lack of adult supervision, Linka pointed at the drawing and offered her opinion by her loose grasp of American slang bolstered by what she had heard in the hallways during the week, "Well, your papa is doo doo _wrong_, because _that_ is terrific!"

Linka looked at the questioning expression on Wheeler's face, and wondered if she should have said anything negative about what his father had said, even though she thought he was wrong.

In turn, the flummoxed boy didn't know if he were more surprised that Linka didn't think his drawing was dumb like he thought she might, had defended him in the face of something negative that his hateful, bitter ass father had to say, or that she had used a rather risqué, _for her_, phrase in a sentence that she had actually dared to say _aloud_.

Gi glanced at the pair, and neither one of them had even noticed that she was hanging on every word of their exchange, and she leaned over in great curiosity to see what Wheeler had drawn, because it had to have been something else to have captivated Linka so. Linka added with enthusiasm, "Your drawing reminds me of my favorite cartoon when I was a child, Cheburashka!"

Wheeler's eyebrow twitched upwards in wonder that Linka actually _knew_ what a cartoon was, seeing as she had grown up crushed by the censorship of the iron curtain. In ignorance he wondered with interest, "Who's Chupacabra?"

Linka patted her hand on his shoulder with a tiny laugh at the refreshing reversal of roles, and relishing the opportunity to educate him on something from the popular culture of her home country. "Nyet, Yankee, _Cheburashka_! He is an animal that looks _sort_ of like a little monkey, and he has a crocodile friend named Gena that he has all kinds of adventures with."

Before Linka could inform Wheeler about the finer points of Russian stop motion animation, an elderly woman with a slight stoop shuffled into the classroom.

The loud noise of several different mingled conversations, as well as a rather spirited and loud "_Yo Mama_" fight in the back row of desks immediately ceased in curiosity rather than respect as every eye was silently focused on the creeping human as if she were a zombie leading her own funeral procession.

The old woman was moving slow enough to be the subject of one, that was certain, and the show didn't stop there because she was carrying a large blue book underneath her left arm that looked almost as large and heavy as she was. Her grey hair was in a tight bun, and along with her thin, wrinkled appearance accentuated by an out of fashion style of eyeglass frames, her colorful, one size too big floral print dress was louder than disco. Atop _that_, she was wearing a mismatching off white sweater that she most likely knit herself which had holes in each well worn, slightly dirty elbow.

Finishing the elderly instructor's eclectic ensemble were loose beige socks that had no elasticity left in them that were hanging flaccidly around her ankles, and on her feet were day glow pink fuzzy slippers with well worn grayish soles that scratched the floor like sandpaper, accentuating each painfully slow step she took.

As Wheeler, Gi, and Linka shared guarded looks at one another, the other students around them began to snicker at her appearance. It could have taken five minutes, perhaps a little longer, but finally the old woman reached her intended destination of the blackboard.

After dropping her oversized volume down on the desk in front of the room, with a smile, and slightly loud, screeching voice, she announced with a respectable authority tempered with a kind sweetness, "Good morning, boys and girls! I'm Miss Emily Litella."

She turned, fumbled for a piece of chalk, reached upwards, and then began to scribble dramatically reading her name with each letter ending with a pronounced clack.

"**M-I-S-S**"

She rose upwards as if drawing a breath to rest after such exertion, and then furiously continued underneath the first words to announce,

"**E-M-I-L-Y**"

She punctuated the final bit of writing her Y as if she were killing an annoying insect on the board with a loud whack, then she lowered herself down further and squinted over the fames of her glasses to finish her last name with a coarse flourish and a tone that resembled triumph,

"**L-I-T-E-L-L-A**"

The last crack of her frenetic cursive writing made the tip of the chalk in her fingers break off and propel out the open door into the hallway to roll quickly out of sight, seemingly glad to be away from her benign abuse.

She lightly smacked the chalk back down into the tray underneath the board, and then faced the class once again while adjusting her horn rimmed glasses to stare with a squint as if she were trying to figure out what to make of them all.

Gi glanced at her fellow Planeteers, then back at the teacher, and wondered why in the world the school system that they were in would hire someone who was so much older than the staff that was employed there regularly. The conscientious water Planeteer thought that this woman in particular looked as if she shouldn't be _driving _herself anywhere, much less to work in a school as unsafe as this one was. Gi reasoned that she had met people there in one week that scared the ever living _hell _out of her, and she owned a magic golden ring that could summon gigantic surges of water. To her, the weak old woman being there without so much as a cane to protect herself with, was like dropping a wounded, bleeding tuna into a pool full of voracious bull sharks.

Miss Litella adjusted her glasses, then the whistling hearing aid in her right ear, and took the opportunity to give a little information about why she was there.

"Now this is my first time substitute teaching here at here at Daily High School, and I'll be taking the place of your regular teacher Mr. Hawks until he recovers from his accident." The Planeteers shared a strange look. "I heard all about the stubbing," Everyone's head in the classroom shot up in surprisingly silent shock as the very mistaken substitute teacher continued in ignorance of facts, "And it must have smarted his toe pretty badly if he had to be taken away in an ambulance." Matter of factually, Miss Litella astutely observed, "And I heard it was the third stubbing this week at this school," The hard of hearing teacher shook her finger in warning and kind concern for her students by admonishing, "So mind your toes."

Gi and Linka cut a look at Wheeler, but he didn't see it because his head was down on his arm while his body shook with a barely audible, hidden chuckle. "That's not funny, Wheeler!" Gi hissed through the side of her mouth with irritation.

This time it fell to the Russian to lightly scourge the redhead for his lack of tact, utilizing the very notebook full of drawings that she had a few moments before complimented by lightly striking his shoulder with it. "Behave yourself!"

The nearsighted woman's eyes squinted, and she ran her hands over her desk looking for something. Gi figured that it was a lesson plan for the day, but to hers _and_ everyone else's genuine surprise, the big blue book the teacher had carried into class were not teaching notes, but instead a children's book.

Gi turned to look at her friends, and glancing at Wheeler, she swore she saw a flood of relief wash over his entire body when the teacher dragged a chair across the rough, black streaked linoleum floor to the front of the class, and announced, "Today, I'll be reading to you from this book."

Miss Litella smiled fondly, and slowly read the title to them all as if they were a room full of kindergarten children during story time, instead of adolescents on the cusp of what could be loosely called adulthood. "Tiny Kingdom." With an innocent fondness for the book that made Gi unconsciously smile, Miss Litella added, "This is a _wonderful_ book. It was written by Mrs. Elizabeth Worlsley, a missionary."

The old woman polished the book lovingly with her thin, vein covered fingers as she looked down at it, and announced not as much to anyone else as she did to herself, "I _love_ this book."

In the back, a tall boy wearing a do rag, oversized basketball jersey, and pants so loose they were almost falling off of his hips started cursing, and got up to leave. Gi, and the others watched him head for the door, and the teacher rose from her seat with a squeak that could have possibly been either the chair leg scraping the floor, _or her_, and quickly shuffled towards the door and addressed his back with irritation, "Young man! Where are you goin'?"

The boy questioned her with sarcasm and pointed at himself with a smirk then proceeded to leave, but undaunted, the old woman pressed, "You! Yes, you! " Linka, Wheeler, and Gi's eyes simultaneously widened when the tall thug pulled something shiny from the band of his exposed boxer shorts as the teacher pointed, "You with the knife!"

Gi's teeth ground together watching the boy's movements carefully just _begging_ God, Gaia, or whatever deity that would listen for a legitimate excuse to attack the scumball. In turn, Wheeler fidgeted in his seat ready to protect the teacher too, while Linka made like preparations _hoping_ they would not have to blow their cover as the mean young man said something foul and disrespectful to the teacher.

Hard of hearing, and unable to understand what the boy said, Miss Litella asked, "What?" He spoke the word again, but she still didn't comprehend as she asked again, "_What?" _Then she nodded with recognition, _"_Get **Fudge**?" The class in behind them snickered with laughter, but Gi bristled with anger, because it was disrespectful to speak to an elder like that, but soon her upper lip twitched upwards to one side when the substitute teacher added, "No, I don't care for it, it's too sweet, rots your teeth!"

The mean spirited boy, now flummoxed by being her secondary hearing aid, repeated himself much more loudly, but with more frustration rather than anger.

Miss Litella responded, "What?" The boy said it again, and she screeched in a higher octave, "_**What**__?" _Seemingly not realizing the magnitude of repeating the boy's harsh word, Miss Litella responded loudly with a questioning lilt_, _"Get _**Fucked**_?" With recognition she bobbed her head upwards and acknowledged with a nod, "_Oh_, well, that's very different."

Everyone except the Planeteers were laughing out loud.

Realizing the old woman wasn't worth the trouble, and also that his bail would be revoked if he did anything else illegal pending his hearing for the stabbing of Mr. Hawks, the bully pushed his way past the elderly woman, then out into the hall.

As the boy stormed out of room and made his way down the hall, Miss Litella craned her head out of the door, and fired back a nice little word of her own to the rude juvenile delinquent as she shook her small, white, tightly clenched fist, "**Asshole**!"

Gi rationalized all of her earlier fears for the teacher's welfare out of her mind, reasoning that after that she could fend for herself quite well. Then she turned around to look behind herself as the entire class erupted in laughter, then to Wheeler. It was not a big surprise, but he was leaning back in his seat laughing as hard as his lungs would allow, much louder than his classmates, cackling like an insane asylum inmate, with his face and ears just as red as the tribal fire symbol ensconced in his ring.

In response to the uproar she had for the most part created herself; Miss Litella rapped on the desk with a ruler until she broke it, then yelled while smacking it with the palm of her hand, "Quiet! Now settle down!"

Gi then focused her attention on Linka, and she was shocked! The usually reserved, restrained Russian was red faced herself as she stared blankly at the blackboard, consciously battling to both not laugh, or give Wheeler _any_ eye contact.

Despite the fact that she was straining to not laugh by biting the inside of her bottom lip, it was obvious that Linka was losing the battle in increments as the substitute once again admonished with a little more reservation, "Quiet! Be quiet! No! Be quiet, everyone! Shut up!"

The old woman trying to regain control of her classroom was just as entertaining as listening to her swear, and almost, as if by agreement, Wheeler turned his still laughing, crimson head to face his crush, and Linka turned to look at him. With growing frustration, Miss Litella cautioned, "Now button your little lips!"

Unable to contain themselves any longer, as if Wheeler had bothered to try to begin with, Linka burst out into loud, wild cackling laughter that added to Wheeler's, _and _the general discord of the class, and showed no signs of abating any time too soon. As an afterthought, Linka glanced towards Gi, but she wasn't even watching them, instead she had her head down on her desk, rolling it back and forth on top of her arm slightly.

Wheeler was still laughing loudly, but as the others behind them began to settle, still snickering, the teacher stepped forward and addressed the redhead especially, "**SHUT UP**!"

Wheeler quieted, then glared at Linka while a laugh hitched in her throat, Gi sighed, and as soon as the laughing in the room died down to mostly silence, Miss Litella straightened her dress, grabbed the book back from the desk, and sat back down at her chair to open her book. The teacher wasn't looking in the book, however, but scanning the entire class with an evil looking eye, daring any one of them to begin laughing once again.

As if nothing remarkable had transpired in the past few minutes, the elderly woman picked up where she left off. "This is a _wonderful_ book!" Gi's eyes rose from the crook of her arm in disbelief as the teacher read, "Tiny Kingdom, by Mrs. Elizabeth Worlsley." Miss Litella looked down at her book once again with loving reverence, paused, then made reference to the measurement of time that it seemed many elderly people set the clock of their lifetime events to.

"She's dead."

While the rest of the class chuckled, at least Wheeler, and Linka didn't respond, and Gi supposed that she should be grateful for that, and made a mental note to _never _be paired off alone with the dynamic duo on a mission _again_.

"Once upon a time there was a _beautiful_ princess, who lived in a little teeny tiny, itty bitty, little teeny tiny _castle_."

Wheeler nudged Linka with his elbow and winked at her, but all he got in response was a push of his arm away from her person, and a dryly groaned, "Bozhe moy!" after she rested her forehead on her fist, rolled her eyes, and looked away from him towards the door.

Gi in turn sighed through her nose and cautioned the boy, "Surely even _you_ can handle story time, Wheeler, be quiet!" Then she turned back to mostly listen, looking forward to being out of there because this was getting to be utterly ridiculous.

"And one day, a handsome prince came riding by in a little teeny tiny, itty bitty, little teeny tiny _carriage_. And the handsome prince, and the beautiful princess fell in love, and went off to live together in a little teeny tiny, itty bitty, little tiny _kingdom_."

Linka glanced at Wheeler, but unfortunately he caught her doing it. Gi wondered how the Russian was going to weasel out of it later as Wheeler whispered, "That's us someday, Babe."

Gi smiled when Linka protested with growl, but she knew that Linka barked a bit too loudly to be an innocent dog, and that she secretly enjoyed the growing argument between them while utilizing a barrage of dirty looks.

Miss Litella paused for effect, then continued, "And on their wedding night, the princess found that the prince had a little teeny tiny, itty bitty, _little_,"

Gi snorted as she glanced at Wheeler who was blushing heavily, then leaned back in her chair, and began to laugh uncontrollably along with Linka while the dismissal bell loudly rang.

In turn, Wheeler who found absolutely _nothing_ funny about the ending of the fairy tale _at all_ asked seriously, "Who needs to behave _now_?"

As the girls settled while sharing a look at one another, Wheeler lightly pushed them both on the shoulder at the same time as the elderly teacher in front announced with a smile, "Never mind. Class dismissed!"


End file.
